


An Adventure of a Lifetime

by jolly_utter



Category: The Terror (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, Francis is dad, M/M, Pillow Fights, airplane au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21948874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolly_utter/pseuds/jolly_utter
Summary: “Good afternoon, and welcome to Erebus Airlines Flight 1845 from London to St. John’s, Newfoundland. My name is Francis Crozier and I’ll be your Captain today. We’ll be taking off shortly after performing pre-flight checks. Have a pleasant flight.”Getting in just under the wire for the Janky Franky's Frosty Fun Time prompt 'aurora'. This is also a fill for my Terror Bingo square, An Adventure of a Lifetime.
Relationships: Captain Francis Crozier/Commander James Fitzjames, Thomas Jopson/Lt Edward Little
Comments: 22
Kudos: 83
Collections: The Terror Bingo (2019), janky franky's frosty fun time 2k19





	An Adventure of a Lifetime

**Author's Note:**

> Just some holiday fluff inspired by flying home for Christmas. I did the bare minimum of research to ensure that there's an international airport in St. John's, and I know absolutely nothing about how planes and flight training operate, so apologies for any inaccuracies. I save my serious research for the Victorians. However, it is absolutely a matter of historical record that James Fitzjames was an instigator of pillow fights. Happy Christmas, and enjoy!!

“Good afternoon, and welcome to Erebus Airlines Flight 1845 from London to St. John’s, Newfoundland. My name is Francis Crozier and I’ll be your Captain today. We’ll be taking off shortly after performing pre-flight checks. Have a pleasant flight.”

Francis concluded the familiar speech and set the microphone down in its holder. He glanced over at his second in command.

“Ready, Edward?”

“As I’ll ever be, sir.”

Privately, Edward Little thought that whoever had named Erebus Airlines had been severely lacking in judgement, and that its slogan, ‘An Adventure of a Lifetime,’ was singularly ill-chosen given its namesake was the passage to the underworld. But it was a steady job, he got to spend most of his time in the air, and he liked Captain Crozier, whom he often flew with. Sure, the job could get a bit lonely as he was never in one place long enough to form any sort of long-term relationship, but on the whole he was contented.

Necessary checks complete, they waited in the queue for air traffic control to give them the go-ahead. 

“How’s James?” Edward asked.

“Oh, he’s well enough. No rare diseases or wild animal attacks lately as far as I know.” Francis’s bearded cheeks dimpled in an affectionate smile. His husband was a travel writer, and they somehow made their relationship work despite being on opposite sides of the globe half the time. Or maybe that was an advantage, Edward thought- absence making the heart grow fonder and all that. “When I get back from this trip we’ll actually both be in London for a while. Get to spend Christmas together.”

“That’ll be nice for you.”

“Mm. I’ve been threatened with an invasion of sisters from Dublin, but I’m hoping I can hold them off until the New Year at least. What about yourself, any plans?”

“Oh, I’ll be working over Christmas, but I’ll try to make it to my parents’ at some point.”

Francis’s eyes softened.

“They must miss you.”

Edward gave an awkward half-shrug. He was closer to his siblings than his parents, and they all kept up pretty well over WhatsApp and Skype. Of course, he’d gotten a thorough guilt-tripping over not being home for Christmas, despite pointing out that planes wouldn’t fly themselves just because it was a holiday. He was grateful for the interruption as they got approval for take-off, and both pilots settled into the routines of their work.

The landing in St. John’s was a bumpy one, the sort where the passengers applauded because they were so relieved not to have died. A snowstorm was already beginning, filling the runway ahead with swirling flakes in their headlights as they taxied towards the gate. 

“Getting out of here again in twelve hours is looking less and less likely,” Francis said grimly, and Edward nodded. He wouldn’t be surprised if they were one of the last flights able to land. The snow appeared to be getting worse by the minute.

The intercom crackled as Francis picked it up again.

“Apologies for the rocky landing, folks. As you can see, it’s a bit snowy out. Local time is 6:35 pm, and the temperature is -5 degrees Celsius. For those of you with connecting flights, please visit the Erebus Airlines desk for information about possible delays when you reach the terminal, and we will do our best to help you reach your destination. Everyone else, stay warm and get home safe.”

Edward hid a smile. Francis always made it sound like he cared about every single one of his passengers, even when they were anonymous faces he never even interacted with. He knew how seriously Francis took his responsibilities as Captain, and personally never felt safer than when he was flying with him.

Passengers disembarked, and post-flight routines complete, Francis and Edward made their way out of the cabin, grabbing coats and hats.

“Captain Crozier?” It was one of the flight attendants, a young man with dark hair. “I thought I heard your dulcet tones!”

“Thomas Jopson!” Francis exclaimed, dropping his things in order to give the man a tight hug. “I didn’t know you were with Erebus, let alone on this flight!”

“I’ve just transferred, and got assigned to your flight at the last minute.”

Edward was stuck behind them in the narrow passageway, and all he could see past Francis’s broad shoulders was a glimpse of a handsome face with a bright smile. He shifted his weight impatiently, eager to be off the plane.

“Sorry, I’ll get out of your way,” Thomas said, apparently noticing.

“Not at all, it’s good to see you, lad. Oh, let me introduce my co-pilot, Edward Little. This is my old friend Tom Jopson.” Francis stood back enough for them to give an awkward wave around him, and for Edward to confirm his impression that Thomas was very good looking indeed. Probably straight, he told himself. Probably wouldn’t be interested anyway. “Shall we go get dinner together?” Francis continued, “It looks like we might be here for a while.”

“That would be perfect, I’ll come find you in the crew lounge. Still have some cleaning up to do here.”

Edward risked another glance at Thomas as he filed out after the Captain, and the impression of light eyes and a warm smile stuck with him even as the cold hit them on the way out of the plane. He had no reason to assume that the dinner plans were meant for him, and he felt mild regret at not having the chance to get to know Thomas a bit better. 

“I don’t suppose you’re familiar with St. John’s airport at all, are you?” Francis asked. “Food options might be a bit slim.”

“No, it’s my first time in Canada, actually. Might just go get some sleep in case we’re flying tomorrow after all.”

“Nonsense! You do know the dinner plans include you?”

Francis fixed Edward with a sharp look- he had quickly learned to get past his fellow pilot’s tendency to self-effacement. Edward tried not to look embarrassed.

“I didn’t want to assume,” he muttered, and before Francis could respond, they had rounded the corner to the gate and someone long-legged was striding toward them.

Francis only had time to let out a surprised, “James!” before he was pulled into an embrace and kissed for long enough that Edward began to feel out of place. It was like seeing your dads kiss. Not that he thought of his co-worker as a parental figure. That would be weird.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Francis asked, beaming, when James finally released him. “I thought you were in Panama until Tuesday.”

“Finished early and thought I’d surprise you! This is sort of on the way home. And you know I can’t resist the chance to see you in uniform. Hello Edward,” James added, tearing his eyes away from Francis’s face but keeping an arm wrapped around his back. 

“Erm. Hi. Good to see you again, James.” They had only met a couple times at work functions, and James couldn’t be that much older than Edward, but if Francis was the gruff but loveable dad, James was the cool one who, if Edward was completely honest with himself, he desperately wanted to impress.

“Shall we?” Francis indicated the way out with a tilt of his head, and they all started walking. “You’ll never guess who I just saw- Tom Jopson has transferred to Erebus Airlines and he was on my flight!”

James’s face lit up.

“I’m surprised you’re not still getting all the latest gossip off him right now.”

“Tom doesn’t gossip!” Francis exclaimed in mock indignation. “He just happens to hear a lot of things, is all.”

Edward trailed slightly behind them, feeling a little like a third wheel and a little envious of their easy banter and the way their hands had found each other’s seemingly without their even noticing. That was the sort of relationship he would want, if such a thing didn’t seem impossibly unattainable. Either it happened to you or it didn’t, he thought. He was interrupted in feeling sorry for himself by Francis looking back to check he was still there.

“I thought we could all go for dinner. Tom’s going to meet us when he’s done clearing the plane. Any suggestions, Intrepid Explorer?”

“That was only a working title for the book!”

“Well now it’s a working nickname. How did you get through to the gate, anyway? You aren’t supposed to be here.”

“My flight only got in a couple hours ago. I just found out where you were going to be arriving and loitered.”

“You and your charm are a bloody security risk.”

“Can I quote that in my next article?”

“Permission not granted! I’d lose my job!”

Edward couldn’t help smiling. He enjoyed their company, even if he never quite felt like he could keep up. They reached the staff lounge and James sat down to wait while Francis and Edward went through, to find out that their fears regarding the blizzard were entirely justified. All flights were grounded for at least the next 24 hours, and they were stuck. Erebus was supplying them with rooms at the airport hotel, and meal vouchers for the few restaurants left open. 

“Well, at least we won’t starve or freeze to death,” Francis said wryly. “Scurvy is still a possibility though.”

“I think it takes longer than 24 hours to set in—” Edward started to say before Francis clapped him on the back, laughing. “Ah.”

Once Thomas re-joined them, all four headed over to the airport hotel, their suitcases rumbling behind them.

“I, for one, would like to shower and get changed,” Francis said, as the elevator reached the floor where the Erebus accommodation had been assigned. “Shall we meet up downstairs in, say, an hour?”

Edward caught the raised eyebrow that James gave Francis at this generous time estimate, and, glancing away quickly, met Thomas’s amused smile. He attempted a smile back, fearing that he had forgotten how normal human expressions worked. They split off to their respective rooms, and, once inside, Edward immediately collapsed face down on the bed. The past half an hour had been altogether more human interaction than he had been prepared for, coming off an eight hour flight. A part of him was tempted to beg off dinner, get room service and watch TV and not move for another eight hours at least. The rest of him remembered the way his stomach had flipped when Thomas’s eyes met his, creased at the corners by his grin, the colour some sort of pale… green? Grey? He wanted to find that out, among several other things. The thought motivated him to drag himself to the shower, and in under twenty minutes he was dressed and realising that he had quite a bit of time to kill.

There was a knock on his door, and he opened it to find Thomas, looking shockingly attractive in a maroon jumper and jeans. Flight attendant uniforms were universally unflattering, but Thomas had looked good even in one, and this- this was just unfair. Edward tried to do something besides stare, and Thomas smiled.

“I had the feeling you’d be ready sooner than Francis and James. Want to go grab a drink while we’re waiting? They might be a while.”

“Oh. Erm, yes! I’m- let me just get my shoes on. Um, come in?”

Thomas followed him into the room and leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets while Edward sat on the bed and tried to un-knot his shoelace. 

“Need help with that?” Thomas asked after a minute.

“No. Well, maybe. Thanks?”

Thomas sat down on the bed beside him, taking the shoe, and Edward noticed the way the mattress sank down, the warmth he could feel coming off him in the stale hotel air. The nimbleness of Thomas’s fingers and the way he held the shoe between his thighs and how his brow furrowed a little in concentration.

“There!” Thomas handed the shoe back, sweeping aside the lock of hair that had fallen across his forehead.

“Brilliant, cheers.”

“I’m a man of many talents.” 

Edward looked up sharply but Thomas’s expression was almost all innocence, apart from a twitch at the corner of his mouth. He stood, and Edward hurried his shoes on and followed him down to the hotel bar.

“So, how long have you known Francis?” Thomas asked, once they were seated with their drinks (sparkling water for Edward and orange juice for Thomas- they were experienced enough fliers that they knew they needed to re-hydrate before anything else).

“A couple of years. We regularly fly long hauls together and he’s the best captain I know.”

Thomas looked mostly fond and a little bit sad, for reasons Edward couldn’t discern. Before he could think too much about it, though, Thomas followed up with,

“Has he told you the story of how he and James met?” His smile promised that it was a good one.

“No, I don’t think he has. I just assumed because they both fly a lot…”

“It’s better than that! Someone at the Erebus in-flight magazine did a piece about James’s first book, the one about his trip to China. Francis read the book and thought it was terrible. Then they ended up at a party together- a mutual friend who also flies for Erebus, Le Vesconte I think. This is when Francis was still drinking. He had a few too many whiskeys and told James exactly what he thought of his book- I believe the phrase “puffed-up Imperialist buffoonery” was used.”

“No.” Edward had gotten too engaged in the story to remember to be self-conscious, and leaned forward on his elbows.

“Yes, he did! I don’t know how long it took for them to speak again after that, but eventually Francis got sober and James became a better writer and a bit more humble. And now look at them! Five years married and still absolutely mad about each other. James told that story at the wedding- very entertainingly, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

Edward laughed.

“Oh, I can! The first time I met him he told me about when he got shot in the arm and he made it sound impossibly glamourous.”

“Right? I don’t know how he does it. But tell me more about yourself, Edward! What do you do besides being a pilot?”

Thomas looked genuinely interested, and Edward had to confess that flying took up most of his time, really. He mentioned that he liked to ride when he visited his parents in the country, and Thomas managed to draw him out with engaging questions and those bright eyes fixed on his face. Edward found himself becoming much more effusive than usual, talking about his family and his home and how his main regret about his job was that he wasn’t in one place long enough to be able to have a dog. They bonded over love of animals, and complaining about London- Thomas had grown up there, while Edward found it a convenient, if expensive, home base. It was only when Thomas got up to fetch them another drink that Edward realised how much he’d been talking about himself, and felt embarrassed that he hadn’t asked more questions in return.

Thomas returned bearing pints, and Edward asked,

“What about you, how do you know Francis?”

“He taught me to fly, actually.”

“Oh. You can fly? Then-” Edward abruptly stopped talking before he said anything too rude.

“Then why am I just a flight attendant?” Thomas completed his thought with a wry smile. “I was in training to be a pilot when my mum got sick. I had to drop out and help my brother look after her- he was still in school, then. I’d love to finish my training but I haven’t got the money right now. So this is my way of staying in the sky until I’ve saved up a bit.”

Thomas told the story matter-of-factly, and Edward didn’t want to give him unwanted pity, as much as he could imagine how frustrating it would be to put one’s ambitions on hold like that.

“That sucks, I’m sorry.”

Thomas shrugged.

“Could be worse. Mum’s doing better now, and Francis never stopped looking out for me. Well. My dad left when I was a baby, so I guess Francis is the closest thing I’ve got.” He ducked his head with a slight flush. “And now that I’ve overshared massively….”

Edward reached out without thinking to touch his arm reassuringly.

“Don’t worry,” he said in a conspiratorial voice, “I think of them as my gay dads as well.”

Thomas looked up, his face clearing, and laughter bubbled up between them at the absurdity of it.

“God, that’s a relief! I felt like such a weirdo!”

Edward realised he’d had his hand on Thomas’s arm for a bit too long and withdrew it, only as far as the middle of the table. It was still well within reach on the off chance that Thomas wanted to do something ridiculous like touch him back.

“Anyway, I feel like I’ve been talking about myself way too much,” Edward said. “I think you could easily find a job as the friendliest interrogator ever, you’d be invaluable to MI-6!”

Thomas laughed, but then tilted his head thoughtfully. That lock of hair was coming loose again, and his hand was scant centimetres away from Edward’s on the table.

“You’re more interesting than you think, Edward Little,” he said softly.

Edward was at a loss for how to respond, but, perhaps fortunately, they were interrupted at that point by the arrival of Francis and James.

“You actually made it back downstairs!” Thomas teased.

“That’s enough of your cheek,” Francis said with a mock glare. “Now let’s get dinner, I’m starving.”

(As a matter of fact, Francis and James had passed a very uneventful hour. After James nearly fell asleep on Francis in the shower and then again on the bed, Francis finally extracted the information that in order to meet him on time, James had had to get up at four in the morning and then endure a 6 hour layover in Chicago.

“What a lunatic! You could be comfortably home in London by now, instead of snowed in, in a mediocre hotel, in the middle of nowhere Canada.”

“But you’re here,” James murmured from his position half-conscious with his head pillowed on Francis’s chest.

“You romantic idiot.” Francis bundled him close and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “I love you very much, you know that?”

“Love y’too.” The words were barely decipherable. Francis smiled, set an alarm on his phone one-handed, and then let himself fully relax, the way he only could with James in his arms.

He was tempted to let James sleep when the alarm went off, but after discovering that James couldn’t give a satisfactory answer about when his last meal was, bullied him out of bed to have dinner. Before they went down, Francis grabbed a cardigan to cover up the spot where James had drooled onto his t-shirt, and pulled him into one proper dirty open-mouthed kiss.

“This was an excellent surprise,” he murmured against his lips. “Now let’s get you fed so you can go back to sleep.”)

Edward was quieter over dinner, letting the others catch up about mutual friends and their own travels. James perked up enough to tell some tales of evading caimans and yellow fever in Panama that had Edward and Thomas riveted, and Francis burying his face in his hands despairingly. 

“How was the flight over here?” James asked.

“Routine up until the landing, which was a little hair-raising,” Francis said. “But I’ve not seen Edward panicked yet- always my steadiest co-pilot.”

Edward ducked his head and sought to deflect attention from the praise.

“How was it back in the cabin?” He turned to ask Thomas, who was watching him blush.

“Oh, not too bad. The screaming babies are never as much of a nuisance as the people who think it’s within your power to make them stop. Only one person was sick on the descent- sometimes it can be a chain reaction and a whole row gets set off. Sorry, not good dinner chat.”

They were mostly finished anyway- James had pushed his chair back and draped an arm across the back of Francis’s. Edward once again yearned for that kind of easy affection. He wondered if Thomas might, too. He hadn’t mentioned a relationship at all, and Edward had casually dropped a mention of an ex-boyfriend just to let Thomas know what team he was on.

James started yawning soon after, and they all headed up to their rooms. Edward fell asleep thinking about the smile on Thomas’s face when he said goodnight.

The snow didn’t let up all the following day and the sky stayed dark, as far north as they were. They passed the time in sleeping, playing the two board games in the hotel’s possession, watching terrible TV, finally having bed-rattling reunion sex (in the case of James and Francis) and talking for hours (in the case of Edward and Thomas). 

When they got too sick of the Christmas music on loop in the hotel bar, the two of them went up to Thomas’s room and sprawled on the beds. Even though it was a weirdly intimate situation with someone he’d only met the day before, it reminded Edward of his time at Uni, the last time he had friends close enough to come in and flop on the bed and just chat. He hadn’t realised how much he missed that, how isolating adult life felt. Besides, Thomas hardly felt like a stranger at this point- Edward felt more at ease around him than around many of his friends, and they were talking, by now, like they had known each other for years. 

In the early evening, there was a knock on the door, and they both yelled, “Come in!” rather than move. James entered, raising an eyebrow at their apparent comfort before delivering his message.

“Just coming to see if you want to have dinner together again. Francis is checking in with Erebus and we can meet him downstairs if you like.”

Thomas glanced at Edward for confirmation and said,

“Yeah, that sounds perfect. Let me just grab-” he rolled across the bed to get his phone from where it was plugged in, charging. 

Edward saw James develop a wicked grin and swoop for one of the pillows as if in slow motion.

“Thomas, look out!” He called, but not before James delivered a wallop across Thomas’s backside with it. Thomas let out an indignant squawk and struggled to retrieve the pillow by his head while rolling out of the way.

Edward dove to Thomas’s rescue from the other bed, wielding a pillow in each hand. Less accuracy, but more flying cotton to distract James while Thomas recovered and bounced to his knees, armed with another pillow.

“Not fair!” James protested, laughing, as they both beat him mercilessly. “No teams in pillow fights!”

“Maybe you should have explained the rules before you _brutally ambushed_ me!” Thomas retorted. 

“How long—ow!—how long have we known each other, Tom?”

“Your blatant attempts at emotional manipulation won’t work, James!” Thomas pursued James as he attempted to flee around the far side of the other bed. Edward’s survival instincts from growing up with three siblings kicked in, and he turned his assault on Thomas as soon as his back was turned. Thomas spun around, and Edward doubled over laughing at his indignant expression.

“I thought I could trust you! How could you abandon me like that!?”

Thomas quickly retaliated while Edward was incapacitated with hilarity, and James leapt back into the fray. The boisterous activity felt fantastic after far too many hours of being trapped on planes and then indoors, and Edward didn’t mind the opportunity to see Thomas dishevelled and grinning either. At one point Thomas tackled him around the middle, pulling Edward down beside him, and Edward was too flusteredly delighted to effectively defend himself when James swooped in. That is, until he discovered Edward’s most vulnerable spot.

“No no no no, not the feet!” Edward struggled away from James’s relentless tickling fingers as Thomas held him fast against his chest, breath warm on the back of his neck, and Edward thought he might die of conflicting sensations- either that or of not being able to breathe from laughing too hard.

Francis eventually came in search of them all when they failed to appear downstairs, only to find his husband in a shaking heap on a bed with his co-pilot and protégé, the hotel room completely torn apart.

“James,” he said sternly, “did you start a pillow fight again?”

In response, a stray pillow flew haphazardly out of the pile of limbs in his general direction.

“Guilty,” came the response, amid much muffled laughter.

Dinner was a much merrier affair than the previous night, with James entirely recovered and in full story-telling form. Edward got to hear the tale of James and Francis’s meeting from their own lips, much embellished. Someone realised that it was in fact Christmas Eve, and they ordered a couple bottles of prosecco to the table (Francis abstaining, of course). Francis delivered the news that the sky had finally cleared and they were due to fly home the following day. As the meal was winding down, Thomas excused himself, and returned pink-cheeked and breathless with cold.

“You said this is your first time this far north, right?” He addressed Edward, with a friendly swat to his arm. “Go get your coat and come outside.”

They went to fetch their outerwear, with Francis and James trailing a tactful distance behind. Edward was vaguely aware of Francis snuggling into James’s arms outside the hotel doors as Thomas led him further from the building, snow crunching underfoot and the cold hitting his body and slightly fuzzy head with refreshing force. Then he looked up, and saw the sky full of colour, wavering ripples of blue and green such as he had never seen before. He gaped in wonder, and felt Thomas’s arm stealing around his waist.

“Worth getting stuck for?” Thomas asked. Edward turned within his embrace to stand slightly too close, watching the reflections of the aurora play in Thomas’s eyes.

“You were worth it,” he said softly, reaching up to run a gloved finger down Thomas’s cheek. He felt Thomas’s smile under his hand, and they moved forward at the same moment, clouds of breath mingling before their lips met. Thomas’s mouth was impossibly warm compared to the cold air, and Edward pressed closer, drawing him into his arms.

“Erm. As we slightly destroyed your room,” he said eventually, “want to come back to mine?”

Thomas’s answering grin was all the confirmation he needed.

One year later…

Another Christmas, and this time Edward and Thomas were back in their flat together, rather than mildly hungover and grinning like idiots on a transatlantic flight. They had custody of Thomas’s brother Will’s big black Newfoundland dog while they were home, and Edward happily snuggled Thomas close on the sofa by the glowing light of the Christmas tree.

“Not quite the aurora borealis, but this is pretty good,” he said. “Happy anniversary, love.”

"Happy anniversary, and Happy Christmas,” Thomas replied, kissing him.

Maybe ‘an adventure of a lifetime’ wasn’t too far off, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Find me on tumblr at @anadequatesir.


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